THE CLIPCLICK
Curiosity Satisfied
BACKGROUND
The Fellhoelter TiBolt Reddit Rabbit Hole
I was scrolling through Reddit as I do, and stumbled upon a post showing off this awesome pen. I thought it was super cool so I googled it, come to find out that it cost $1500!!! Surely, this couldn't be right!
But it was, and so I fell down the rabbit hole of machined pens.
The FocusWorks Sideswipe
After doing some research, I found the FocusWorks SideSwipe pen. It looked awesome and had a unique mechanism to deploy the ink which intrigued me. Only one problem - it was sold out with no ETA, and cost about $300.
Design
Selected Concept
After a couple iterations, I landed on the above design. Notable features include an interchangeable grip, tip, and clip, as well as a mechanism that uses the clip to actuate the ink with a bolt action.
Cross Section
As it turns out, a bolt action pen does not require too many moving parts: a housing of some sort, a slider, an ink cartridge, and a spring. My design includes all of the above, with separate parts of the housing for interchangeability and customizability. The clip is used to move the slider in my design, and I chose a spring based on its spring constant to achieve a satisfying click.
Colored Render
Knowing that I intended to have the pen machined, I put together a render with different materials/colors to inform my cosmetic design decisions. I landed on a blue/silver color scheme with a gold slider (which I chose to enable the use of brass, a self lubricating metal).
prototyping
Initial 3D Printed Prototype
Before buying Parker refills, springs, and hardware, I simply took apart one of my pens to scavenge its parts and ensure that the mechanism actually worked. To my delight, the click was satisfying and snappy and worked as intended.
Secondary Prototype
With initial validation out of the way, I ordered the necessary materials to build a more representative prototype to test. To the delight of my classmates, I put the prototype through its paces, clicking it constantly throughout lectures and furiously taking notes.
final product
Unboxing!
After a few weeks of prototype iteration (tuning appearance, slider length for a crisp actuation, grip design) I placed an order for my pen to be CNC machined. A few weeks after that, I received a package with a bundle of parts inside which I immediately assembled into my very own pen. For cost reasons, the selected material for most of the pen was anodized 6061 Aluminum with a H59 Brass slider. All of the blue highlight parts can be swapped out for different colors if I so choose, but I quite like the blue.
Closing Thoughts
Looking back on this project, I'm really glad I fell down the Reddit rabbit hole of machined pens. I achieved all of my design objectives and made a functional piece of hardware that I'll carry with me forever (or until I lose it). I also named my pen, aptly, the Clipclick.
In the end though, did I really save that much money over just buying a Focusworks Pen? Not really, but partially because my CNC order was a one-off. If I placed an order with higher quantity, I could have brought my per-pen price down significantly.
And now I can say I know how to, and have designed, my very own pen.